As we slink into what will likely be another unbearably hot summer, Pakistanis across the country are reminded of everything we’ve lost to climate change. In 2021, Lahore was ranked second on the list of megacities with the worst air quality, only second to New Delhi. But air quality is a country-wide, perennial problem in Pakistan-other major cities in the country, including Islamabad, Karachi, Multan and Faisalabad regularly experience days where the air is too toxic and unhealthy to bear. Mainstream discourse largely neglected climate change unprecedented series of floods inundated half the country last year-after that, denial was no longer an option. Pakistan, like other low-middle-income countries, has poor environmental regulatory capacity. Currently, we do not have a coherent understanding of the implications of our own policy decisions-that is, poor fuel emission standards combined with an urban growth model that favours cars over other types of transportation. It is not surprising then that an FAO report discovered that 43% of all air pollution is directly associated with the transport sector. That, combined with out-of-date and unsustainable agricultural practices has put us in an incredibly precarious position. But perhaps most crucially, Pakistan is facing a serious water security crisis-recently, the UN moved the country to its ‘critically water insecure category’, officialising what many have feared for years. To make matters worse, the lack of research on the complications that accompany climate change leaves glaring evidence gaps needed to institute long-term policy changes. While Pakistan accounts for only 1% of total global carbon emissions, it has become exceedingly clear that we are doomed to suffer the consequences of other people’s failings. There’s no denying that we have shown tremendous initiative at international summits like the COP this last year but financial aid alone cannot bring about the dramatic transformation Pakistan needs to better mitigate climate-related disasters in the future. If we make a conscious decision to implement long-term strategies today, we might just be able to yield significant results by the end of the decade. Instead of lamenting what we have lost, we must turn our attention to the future instead. *